page_title: Uganda–Tanzania War
section_title: Tanzanian counter-attack
hierarchical_section_title: Uganda–Tanzania War / Course of the war / Invasion of Kagera / Tanzanian counter-attack
caption_attribution_description: President of Mozambique Samora Moises Machel speaks with the state department officials and a colonel before departing the United States
context_page_description: The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979, and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's overthrow of President Milton Obote and subsequent seizure of power in 1971. The President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, had close ties with Obote and supported an attempt by him to launch a rebellion in Uganda in 1972, leading to a border clash and eventually the signing of an agreement with Amin which stipulated that both leaders would withdraw their forces from the Uganda–Tanzania border. Nevertheless, relations between the two presidents remained tense, and Amin began claiming that the Kagera Salient—a stretch of Tanzanian land between the official border and the Kagera River, should be placed under Uganda's jurisdiction. Over the following years Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
context_section_description: Nyerere ordered Tanzania to undertake full mobilisation for war. At the time, the TPDF consisted of four brigades. Among them, only the Southern Brigade, which had just performed well in war games, was ready to be moved to the front line. However, it was headquartered in Songea, thus making it farther from Kagera than the other brigades. After a long trek via rail and road, the unit reached the Bukoba–Kyaka area and established camp. Additional soldiers were sent from Tabora. Prime Minister Edward Sokoine handed orders to Tanzania's regional commissioners to marshal all military and civilian resources for war. In a few weeks, the Tanzanian army was expanded from less than 40,000 troops to over 150,000, including about 40,000 militiamen as well as members of the police, prison services, and the national service. Most of the militiamen were deployed to Tanzania's southern border or sent to guard strategic installations within the country. Machel offered Nyerere the assistance of a Mozambican battalion as a gesture of support. The 800-strong unit was quickly flown to Tanzania and moved to Kagera.
  Despite being informed of the Tanzanian preparations for a counter-offensive, the Ugandan military did not set up any proper defenses such as trenches. Most of the commanders on the front line and members of the high command ignored the intelligence reports, and instead focused on looting the Kagera Salient. Tanzania initially aimed for its counter-offensive, called Operation Chakaza, to begin on 6 November, but it had to be delayed. However, by the second week of November, it had assembled a substantial force on the southern bank of the Kagera River. TPDF Chief of Staff Major General Tumainie Kiwelu took command of the troops, which initiated a heavy artillery bombardment of the northern bank, triggering the flight of many Uganda Army soldiers. On 14 November Amin, sensing that other African states did not support his position and irrationally fearing that the Soviet Union was about give Tanzania new weapons, declared the unconditional withdrawal of all Ugandan troops from Kagera and invited OAU observers to witness it. The Tanzanian government denounced the statement as a "complete lie", while foreign observers were unable to reach a consensus on the veracity of the supposed withdrawal. The OAU reacted by claiming that its mediation had succeeded.
  On 19 November the Tanzanians assembled a pontoon bridge across the Kagera River. The following day Tanzanian patrols began exploring area along the northern bank of the Kagera River, discovering dead civilians and destroyed property left by the Uganda Army. Two days later patrols reached the Ugandan border, finding no Ugandan troops except for a small contingent in Minziro, which they did not engage. Ugandan command and control descended into chaos amid the counter-offensive, and only a few officers attempted to organise any resistance. On 23 November three TPDF brigades crossed the pontoon bridge and began occupying the Kagera Salient. Though small groups of Ugandan troops roamed the countryside, Nyerere, to the chagrin of his officers, toured Kagera. The Ugandan government announced in late November that it had withdrawn all forces from the Kagera Salient and that all fighting had ceased. It flew 50 foreign diplomats to the border, and they reported that there was little evidence of ongoing conflict. Tanzanian officials denounced the withdrawal statement, asserting that Ugandan troops had to be forcibly removed from Tanzanian territory, and announcing that some remained in the country. On 4 December the TPDF's 206th and Southern Brigades secured Mutukula on the Tanzanian side of the border without incident, while the 207th Brigade retook Minziro. By early January all Ugandan troops had been ejected from Kagera.
caption: The People's Republic of Mozambique under Samora Machel (pictured in 1985) was one of the few countries to aid Tanzania during the war, sending an 800-strong battalion to help defend the country from Uganda.
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